Evangeline Dilao shed tears while she recalled how joining the Surrender to God (SuGod) drug recovery program helped her reform for her son’s sake.
/CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Evangeline Dilao, 39, was hooked to illegal drugs use for 25 years.
She decided to already stop her vice and undergo rehabilitation early this year, afraid that her 16-yer-old son would follow her bad example.
Dilao is one of the 446 beneficiaries of the Surrender to God (SuGod), a 10-day drug recovery and renewal program initiated by the Archdiocese of Cebu and the Duros Development Corporation.
Rehabilitation and transformation is being done in a facility located in Liloan town, northern Cebu.
“My goal is to change because I don’t want my child to do the same thing (that I did),” she added.
Dilao said so much has changed in her life, five months since she availed of the SuGod program.
“I am free. Gigiyahan gyod ko sa Ginoo. Peaceful kaayo akong utok (The Lord has guided me. I now have peace of mind),” she said in an interview yesterday.
Dilao said she is thankful that she became part of the SuGod program that will celebrate its first year anniversary today.
Fe Barino, SuGod executive director, said that the 10-day program is free of cost and is aimed at transforming drug dependents.
“Kami nagtoo nga ang drug addict sama ra na nato ordinaryo. Duna say kasingkasing, dunay kinabuhi, duna say mahal sa kinabuhi, ug duna sad silay katungod nga magpakabuhi (We believe that drug addicts are like any normal people. They have hearts, lives, loved ones and they have the right to live),” she said.
Barino said her experience with the Love of God (LOG) Community, a charismatic group she co-founded with her husband Rafaelito, helped in her management of SuGod.
She is also the Archdiocese of Cebu’s coordinator of charismatic communities and the chairperson of the Archdiocesan Commission on the Laity.
Her company, Duros Development Corporation, was responsible for the construction of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) Pavilion in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
“Dili makabayran og sapi kong makakita ka og usa ka tawo nga rejected sa society, usa ka tawo nga makita nimo mausab. (Money cannot buy the joy that you get from seeing a person who was rejected by society renew his or her life),” she said.
SuGod is designed as a live-out seminar workshop intended for outpatient drug users. It employs a “teach and preach” method in helping their clients overcome their drug dependence by weaving scientific and spiritual elements in a 10-day drug recovery and renewal program.
Barino said that the program was the Archdiocese of Cebu’s answer to the shortage of drug rehabilitation centers in Cebu.
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